Thursday, January 28, 2010

Jerome David Salinger: January 1, 1919-January 27, 2010

This blogger lost a personal hero this week.



Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody. ~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 20

Holden Caulfield said he didn't care if a good-bye was sad or bad, but when he left a place he wanted to know that he had left it. I hope it was a good good-bye, Mr. Salinger. No flowers from me, just gratitude.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Suggestions?

A coworker has had the idea of starting some sort of site or resource specifically for Reinhardt students to sell textbooks to each other. She was thinking about a wiki, and I suggested a message board. I could do it on our Facebook page, or start a new group. We're still debating the best way to do this. Do any of our readers have any suggestions? Post a comment either on the blog or the Facebook. Thanks! :)

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Book Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

One of our recent additions to the collection is this very impressive debut novel by Atlanta resident Kathryn Stockett. Set in the Jim Crow-era Mississippi of 1962, The Help is a moving and vivid portrait of life in a segregated society and the complex relationships between African-American domestic servants and their white employers. It's a time when black women are trusted with the care and upbringing of their white employers' children, but aren't allowed to use their toilets. When both state law and societal rules prevent the two classes from mixing, the result is fear, suspicion, anger, resentment, prejudice and ignorance. Fortunately, a few very brave women find a way to navigate this social gulf, uniting on a project that will give a voice to the oppressed, challenge preconceptions and finally shed some light on both sides.

The novel manages to make its point without being preachy, and is also an enjoyable and absorbing story. These two accomplishments are largely due to Stockett’s skill in creating well-rounded, believable characters, especially those of her three narrators. Chapters alternate among Aibileen, a black maid raising her seventeenth white child while mourning the loss of her own son through the negligence of his white employers; Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, whose inability to contain her own anger and keep her opinions to herself has cost her job after job; and Skeeter, a 22-year-old white girl, fresh out of college with a burning desire to write and the secret heart of a social reformer. (One character, a bigoted Junior League matron with political aspirations, does verge on caricature, but for the most part Stockett‘s characters are vivid, complicated and “messy”—in other words, just like real people).

When a mentor suggests that Skeeter write about something that matters, she conceives the idea of interviewing the black maids of Jackson, Mississippi and finding out what their lives are really like. Most of the maids are reluctant to participate, understandably fearing retribution if they spoke out about their employers, but Skeeter finds in Aibileen and Minny two subjects who, while still cautious and fearful of discovery, are more than ready to speak their minds. Others eventually follow. The tales they tell, and what happens after they have their say, may surprise you.

The Help is sometimes moving, frequently provocative and sometimes hilarious. It’s a good read with a message behind it, offering both a snapshot of a troubling period of history and a window into the lives of a group of women whose story has rarely been told.

You can find this book temporarily located at the service desk on the second floor of the library.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Seriously-- I can listen to your drama all day long

Hey Theatre Students (and others)!

Grab some headphones! We've found another great database. I really wish I could listen to this one in my car. It's Audio Drama: The LA Theatre Works Collection from Alexander Street Press. I love the databases from Alexander Street-- they're easy to browse, and they have some unique resources you just can't find elsewhere on the 'net.

Here they've partnered with LA Theatre Works to bring you their archive of audio productions. Founded in 1974, LA Theatre Works had been called "the nation's premiere radio theatre company." Their mission is to enrich our cultural life by producing significant works of dramatic literature on audio and assuring the widest public access to these works. You may have heard their series "The Play's the Thing" on public radio. They also provide audio productions to schools and libraries, and work with at-risk youth. You can purchase individual performances on their Web site, but thanks to Audio Drama, we now have access to 181 plays in streaming audio.

These include classics from the Western canon by playwrights like Chekhov, Miller and of course, Shakespeare, and even some original works such as the specially commissioned docudrama The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial. Voice actors include Richard Dreyfuss, Stacy Keach, Jobeth Williams, Kelsey Grammer, Ed Asner, Jennifer Tilly, Marsha Mason and Charles Durning, to name a few. The plays are indexed not only by playwright, director and genre, but also by themes and subjects. You can easily locate resources for your project on race relations, for example (or medical ethics, or Alzheimer's, or the immigrant experience, or Vietnam).

In addition to the plays themselves, Audio Drama includes teaching guides and critical essays that draw connections between the plays and virtually any other discipline, from the social sciences to the hard sciences to law and medicine. It's not just for theatre professors (or their students).

I'm going to enjoy exploring this database more fully in the future! Check it out--it's worth more than a listen.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

"Year Of" Movie TODAY at the Funk- Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy


The Year Of North American Indigeneous Peoples film series resumes today with the winner of the 2006 Best Documentary award from the American Indian Film Institute. The Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy features the talents of James Earl Jones (as the narrator) and the great Wes Studi.
The film gives a detailed account of the events following the implementation of Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act. Nearly a quarter of the Cherokee Nation is said to have perished on the long walk to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Hence, the Trail of Tears, or more accurately in the Cherokee language, "the trail where they cried." It is a dark chapter in America's history, but one that needs to be told and understood.

As always, remember our ongoing contest. See one of our "Year Of" films or read one of our "Year Of" books. Write a brief review and submit it to librarian Karen Preslock at kp1@reinhardt.edu. One winner and one second place winner will be chosen each month. Both will recieve "Year Of" t-shirts, and the first place winner will also receive a flash drive. At the end of the year, all entrants will be entered into a drawing to receive a Nintendo Wii. The more often you enter, the better your chances of winning, and the more you will know about the people who lived here before us.

The movie will be shown at 2 pm in the Funk Heritage Center.

Article in Cherokee Ledger-News about last week's guests


Check out the current issue of the Cherokee Ledger-News for an article by Carolyn Mathews about our guests from last week. You can read the article online at http://www.ledgernews.com/.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Cherokee guests a big hit at Reinhardt!

I really cannot say enough about how wonderful our guests from the Cherokee Nation were this past week. A big hearty "Thank You" is in order for cultural spokesperson Gina Burnett and genealogist Gene Norris, both of the Cherokee Heritage Center in Park Hill, Oklahoma, and storyteller Robert Lewis of the Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. I was fortunate enough to spend some time with these folks during their visit, and they were all three just delightful people, very knowledgeable and very friendly and generous with their time.

They spoke to a couple of classes while they were here. Then on Thursday afternoon I watched as Gina and Robert held a crowd of about 40 people spellbound in the library as they combined the history of the Cherokee people with traditional storytelling. That evening, Gene had a standing-room-only crowd in the Funk Heritage Center for his talk on Cherokee genealogy, and then he stayed for an hour looking at documents and talking to people about their ancestors. Friday, after touring local historic sites with Reinhardt faculty, they entertained the Brownies of Troop 2815 at Hagan Chapel. Gina told the girls about the important role women held in Cherokee society, and Robert had them literally rolling in the aisle. The scouts need to send them a box of cookies! If you didn't get the chance to attend any of their talks or performances this week, what can I say? You missed out! Thanks to the Year of North American Indigenous Peoples for bringing these speakers to Reinhardt.

Here, Funk Heritage Center director Dr. Joe Kitchens (center) poses with Robert Lewis and Gina Burnett.



Library director and "Year Of" chairman Michael Martinez also poses for a photograph with Robert and Gina. Where was Gene?



He was still visiting with the attendees of his genealogy presentation. Here Gene Norris is looking at a scrapbook a resident has compiled of information about her Cherokee ancestors.




Thanks to Dr. Kitchens for the photos.

Library Closed Monday, January 18


The Hill Freeman Library & Spruill Learning Center will be closed on Monday, January 18, 2010 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We will reopen at 8 am on January 19th.

We are open today, Sunday, January 17 from 2 pm until 11 pm, as usual. Of course, the 24-hour areas of the library will be accessible to Reinhardt students with your Eagle cards.

In the spirit of King Day, I'd like to urge you all to find some way to volunteer your time and talents to help make a difference in your community!

Monday, January 11, 2010

"Year Of" Doubleheader this Thursday

Hello all-- I hope you enjoyed your SNOW DAY! I sure did, but I could use another!

Just wanted to remind you of the wonderful speakers we have coming this week for the Year of North American Indigenous Peoples! We have three guests coming from the Western Band of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. I told you earlier about the artists and storytellers who are coming to speak here at the library at 1 pm on Thursday.

We also are fortunate enough to have the senior genealogist with the Cherokee National Historical Society, Mr. Gene Norris, coming to speak. He will be speaking at 7 pm on Thursday at the Funk Heritage Center. Mr. Norris is a board-certified genealogist specifically trained in tracing Cherokee ancestry. He is a member of the Board of Certification for Genealogists in Washington, DC; the Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc.; the Goingsnake District Heritage Association; the National Genealogical Society; the Board of the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Trail of Tears Association; the Cherokee-Moravian Historical Association; and the Carroll County Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc.

He has actively been involved in genealogical research for twenty-three years and has been specifically concentrating on Cherokee genealogy since 1994. He has had numerous articles published in the Carroll County Historical and Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Goingsnake Messenger Quarterly. He also co-teaches the Cherokee Nation History Course with Roy J. Hamilton. He has presented and spoken at several workshops, seminars and conferences on Cherokee history and genealogy research.

I expect Mr. Norris's presentation will be a hot ticket as many people around here either have or believe they have Cherokee ancestry in their family history. I've been told that I have a Cherokee ancestor, and I'm both excited to try and trace my lineage and a little afraid that maybe it isn't true! I hope it is!

Come out to hear our speakers, and maybe you'll find some clues to uncovering your own family story!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

"Year Of" Movie Postponed

Correction to my earlier post. There will be no "Year of North American Indigenous Peoples" movie today at the Funk Heritage Center. We will reschedule the showing of "The Trail of Tears"--watch this page for further updates.


Also, it's snowing! :)

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Come check out Dr. Wheeler's article in The Georgia Historical Quarterly!

Congratulations to Reinhardt Associate Professor of History Dr. Kenneth Wheeler and library favorite G. Richard Wright on the publication of their article "New Men in the Old South: Joseph E. Brown and His Associates in Georgia's Etowah Valley" in the Winter 2009 issue of The Georgia Historical Quarterly. This publication is not available online, but we have it here on our shelves.

Dr. Wheeler and Wright's article talks about Civil War-era Governor of Georgia Joseph E. Brown (a Canton resident!) and his business interests. Not much has been written about Brown's early life in this area. Brown himself tried to cover up his prosperous beginnings, preferring for political reasons to portray himself as the son of poor farming folk, not as a savvy businessman with interests in milling, mining, railroading, land speculation and manufacturing. It is arguable (and Wheeler and Wright do) that this experience is what best prepared Brown for his success in the economy of the 'New South." Come read about local history that has been long-forgotten--until now!

(The article also features a snazzy photo of Richard near the remains of a furnace once owned by Gov. Brown. This picture was taken by Reinhardt Assistant Professor of Art Jym Davis)!

Bravo, gentlemen! Reinhardt is proud of your accomplishments!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Save the date: Artists and storytellers coming January 14!


Hello! We have a time and date now for the speakers from the Cherokee Nation. Thursday, January 14th at 1 pm on the third floor of the library, artists and storytellers Robert Lewis and Gina Burnett will be speaking.

Robert Lewis is employed by the Cherokee Nation as a school and community specialist, conducting classes and offering services in art, culture and storytelling. As a boy, Lewis's imagination was fired by the traditional stories his father shared with him, inspiring him to learn the art of storytelling for himself. He has performed onstage, at festivals and on television, sharing the ancient stories of his people with new audiences. He also teaches art and Native Crafts, and holds a degree in Fine Art from Northeastern State University.

Burnett is the Outreach Coordinator for the Cherokee Heritage Center in Park Hill, OK. She is also a storyteller and a potter. Her work, Birth, shown, was honored at the 2009 Trail of Tears Art Show at the Cherokee National Museum in Tahlequah, OK.

Don't miss the chance to hear these two talented speakers from the Western Band of the Cherokee!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Tweet, tweet...

At the bottom of this page, you'll find the blogger's twitter feed. I thought I'd try it out while I'm at the desk every day. I'm HFLblogger on Twitter. You can even tweet me a reference question if you like!

Right now we're putting together the movie list for this semester's Year Of North American Indigenous Peoples movie series. I should have it for you sometime tomorrow, Michael willing... This Thursday at 2 pm in the Funk Heritage Center, we'll be showing the Trail of Tears movie. If you're not absolutely snowed in that day, you really should come and see it. Especially because THIS MONTH we'll be having speakers from the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma coming to visit us, including a storyteller, an artist and a genealogist. (Have you always been told you were part Cherokee? You should take this opportunity to reconnect with your people).

Happy 2010, and welcome back students!

Welcome back! I've seen several of our "regulars" already. It's great to see the library full again!

Over the break we've been doing a lot of work processing the Triplett Memorial Military History Collection, and moving things around. Special kudos to the Amazonian Karen Preslock for a lot of heavy lifting, moving books around to make room for the new collection.

We'll have a lot of updates for you very shortly...